Pacific Aquaculture Regulations

The proposed Regulations would work synergistically and would provide for management and regulation of aquaculture on the Pacific coast.

The proposed Regulations would establish a licensing regime, consistent with the regime for other fisheries managed by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) but tailor-made to address the uniqueness of the aquaculture sector. The licence conditions under the proposed Regulations would regulate most aspects of aquaculture that were covered in the former provincial regulations, while other aspects such as deleterious substance deposit authorisations (section 36) would be managed directly through the proposed Regulations.

The proposed federal regulations have taken into account the existing provincial aquaculture regulations, as well as the feedback and written comments received by the department during consultations with First Nations, stakeholders and interested members of the public.

On July 10, 2010, the proposed Pacific Aquaculture Regulations were pre-published in Part I of the Canada Gazette for a 60-day public comment period.

Following the comment period, the submissions will be reviewed and amendments will be made as necessary. The proposed regulations will then be submitted for review and approval by the Governor in Council, before being published in final form in the Canada Gazette, Part II, with a view to ensuring that the new federal regulations will be in force prior to December, 2010.